Javier Valentin had a HUGE hit in 7th inning of the Reds 11-5 win last night, driving a single to right field that plated two runs (the third scored on an error by Reds killer Bill Hall).
But was it the right move? Was it smart baseball?
Before Valentin came to the plate, Milwaukee reliever Greg Aquino had intentionally walked Scott Hatteberg and then walked Alex Gonzalez on 4 pitches. The count on Valentin went to 2-0…so he’d thrown 10 straight pitches out of the strike zone.
What did Valentin then do? Hacked at a pitch out of the strike zone. Then what? I believe, he hacked at another pitch out of the strike zone, taking the count to 2-2…whereupon he delivered his big hit.
My question…was the swing on 2-0 or even 2-1 the right move? And if so, would you be saying the same thing if he had popped out to first or struck out, rather than getting the big basehit?
Just because something works, does that make it right or smart?